Henry louis sciiaffner



No. 607,282. Patented July 12, I898.

H. L. SCHAFFNEB.

' BICYCLE SADDLE.

(Application filed May 1], 1896.3

(No Model.)

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NiTED STATES ATENT rricE.

HENRY LoUIs SCHAFFNER, OF FLORENCE, ITALY.

BICYCLE-SADDLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 607,282, dated July 12,1898.

' A li ation fil d May 11, 1896. Serial No. 591,102. (No model.)

To all whom it 'may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY LOUIS SCHAFF- NER, of the city of Florence,Tuscany, Italy, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inBicycle-Saddles; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form part of this specification.

his invention is an improvement in saddles for bicycles; and itsobjectis to produce a comfortable, easy-riding, and hygienic saddlewhich will accommodate itself to the natural motions of the body andlegs of the rider and will be free from the injurious effects upon thebody, which is the chief objection to the ordinary rigid saddles. V

The saddle is mounted so as to be capable of a lateral oscillation orvibration, and the cover is made yielding, so that in use while theweight of the body is properly supported upon the tubes the pelvis is.able to follow the motions of the legs, and thus all the muscles arebrought into play and contribute to the propulsion of the vehicle.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination ofparts hereinafter described and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a bottom view of thecomplete saddle. Fig. 2 is a side view through the same with the coverin section. Fig. 3 is a detail section of one of the cover fastenings.

The frame of the bicycle-saddle is formed principally of a spring-rod A,which has a horizontal portion A attached to the supporting-pivot, andat each side of the pivot the rod is bent upward and rearward and thencurved horizontally in substantially semicircular form into loops A thetwo extremities of the wire meeting near the center of the saddle andextending forward to or slightly beyond and above the part A and thepivot. The form of the spring-frame is clearly shown in the drawings. Inplan the frame appears bent like the letter B, both sides of loop Abeing alike. a

The extremities ofrod A. may beconnected in any suitable manner to aclamp B, which depends therefrom, and in this clamp is secured aforwardly-projecting adjustable rod C, which supports the beak end ofthe saddle-cover E. This cover is made, preferably,

of leather or othersuitable material and is of substantially ordinaryform, the extremity of its beak portion E being fastened to a metallicshell F, having a recessed block f on its under side fitted onto the endof rod. C, and thus making a pivoted connection between the beak ofcover and the rod. In the rear edge of the cover E are a series ofeyelets e, through which are slipped tap-bolts D, engaging threadedrecesses in annuli d, attached to the rear portions of the loops A ofthe seat-frame. This makes a simple, secure, easily-adjustable,andreadily-detachable fastening for the cover to the frame. The tapboltsnot only fasten the'cover to the annuli,

but secure the latter to the frame, so that the saddle can be easilytautened by turning the annuli on rod A. Cover E, moreover, at the pointof junction of the beak portion with the seat portion is gored or slit,as shown, for the insertion of gores G of elastic webbing or resilientcloth, which gores allow the cover to take the best shape of seat whichsuits the rider and to vary its shape according to the movement of thelegs, as would be most comfortable and natural to the rider.

Across each loop A and strung between and attached to the inner andouter sides thereof are strong resilient reinforcing-bands a a, whichgive resiliency to the portion of the saddle-cover thereover. Ifdesired, the 85 cover can be upholstered or padded to render it morecomfortable.

The self-adj ustment of the cover to the rider and motion of the legsand muscles in riding is facilitated by the pivotal connection 0 betweenthe beak and rod 0 and by the horizontal oscillation of the saddle,which is preferably pivoted upon the main frame of the machine so as tobe capable of lateral oscillation in any suitable manner. I have shown 95' a very useful and generally preferable form of pivot, which isconstructed as follows:

The part A of frame A is secured to a post K by means of a wedge K,which gives support to or stiffens thepart A. 1

Having thus described my invention, what I therefore claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent thereon, is-

In a bicycle-saddle the combination of a Y frame having a continuoushorizontal portion In testimony that I claim the foregoing as A attachedto the seat-post and its opposite my own I affix my signature inpresence of 10 extremities bent upwardly and rearwardly, two witnesses.

inwardly and forwardly to form side loops T 5 A lying in rear of andabove part A; and HENRX LOUIS SCHAFFNER' a beak-rod attached to theendsof the ad- Witnesses: joining ends of the rod above part A, snb- SPIRITOBERNARDIN, stantially as and for the purpose described. HERMANN MAYER.

